* Link's name and appearance:** It was revealed in [[http://www.gamekult.com/actu/miyamoto-la-wii-u-et-le-secret-de-la-triforce-A105550.html an interview Miyamoto gave to a French website]] that Link's appearance was, like Mario before him, influenced by the NES's graphical limitations. Miyamoto wanted Link to be easily recognizable, and able to visibly use his sword and shield. The weapons were thus made big and easily visible, and Link was given his trademark pointy hat and long ears so that he could easily be distinguished from his equipment despite the sprite's small size. The pointy hat and long ears, in turn, reminded Miyamoto and his team of elves, most notably [[Disney/PeterPan Disney's Peter Pan]], hence the decision to color Link's outfit green and make his design more elf-like.** From the same interview, it was also revealed that Link's name came from an early idea for the series: the Triforce was meant to be a bunch of electronic chips that the hero would collect by traveling between the future and the past. The hero was named "Link" to symbolize the fact that he was the Link between the time periods. Even though the series ended up taking on a totally different approach, the name "Link" stuck ever since.** His name's also doubly appropriate in a BilingualBonus sense: "Links" is German for "left". In the games that don't have motion controls, he's [[TheSouthpaw left-handed]], plus there's also the "Four Swords" games where he splits into multiple Links. * AdaptationSequence: Video games —> [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfZelda Cartoon]] —> [[ComicBook/TheLegendOfZelda Comic]]* CashCowFranchise: One of Nintendo's Big Three, along with ''Mario'' and ''Pokémon''.* FanNickname:** Most of the Links have one out of necessity. Usually it's an abridgment of their hero titles (fanon or canon) - Wind, Sky, Time, Twilight, etc.** Most Zelda games from ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwordsAdventures Four Swords Adventures]]'' (i.e. since 2004) onwards, save for a few promotional disks with a handful of tracks each, either received an official soundtrack many years after the game was released or didn't get an official soundtrack at all. Thus many music themes have been nicknamed by fans. Standout examples would be "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVkJW2zAZwQ Midna's Desperate Hour]]" from ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'' (which was later on officially titled "Midna's Lament" in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]''), "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N21htq8lXQ Link and Zelda's Duet]]" from ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks Spirit Tracks]]'', and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gqd3oCmFgM Romance]]" from ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]''.* KillerApp: It's guaranteed that a Zelda release will coincide with a massive spike in Nintendo console sales. It (along with Mario) is basically Nintendo's home console equivalent to {{Pokemon}}.* NoExportForYou:** Several ''[[Manga/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]]'' manga have yet to be released outside of Japan.** ''Tetra's Trackers'' from the Japanese version of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwordsAdventures Four Swords Adventures]]''.** The {{Satellaview}} games for the Super Famicom: the first being a remake of Zelda 1 (with different map layouts), and the second being a TimedMission in the ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'' engine, where your hero (not Link, who is currently stuck on [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening Koholint Island]]) must collect the 8 stone tablets to seal Ganon again, after his seal weakened.** The three Tingle SpinOff games: the first one, ''VideoGame/FreshlyPickedTinglesRosyRupeeland'', was released only in Japan and Europe; the US version [[AmericansHateTingle was cancelled under popular demand from an online NOA poll]]. It has greed as a game mechanic. The latter two, only released in Japan, are a VideoGame/BalloonFight [[DolledUpInstallment clone]], and a sequel to the first game but with DatingSim elements, of all things.* PromotedFanboy: Eiji Aonuma, the series' current producer and ''de facto'' figurehead, credits ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' as sparking his interest in game design as a whole. After presenting his own ''Marvelous: Another Treasure Island'' to Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto, he decided to hand directorial duties of the series to Aonuma, though he wouldn't be head director until ''Majora's Mask''.* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Imagi Studios, prior to their closing, release a short for a pitch to Nintendo to produce an animated film based on Zelda in 2007. Obviously, the pitch did not succeed.* WordOfGay: Inverted. Aonuma stated in an interview that Tingle is not gay, "just an odd person".

* EightPointEight: Indirectly, because of the score ''Twilight Princess'' received in a Gamespot review.[[invoked]]* AmericansHateTingle[[invoked]]* DarkWorld: Used in several of the games.* DeathMountain* HeartContainer* HijackedByGanon* IFightForTheStrongestSide* TheLostWoods* SpinAttack* UrbanLegendOfZelda: [[JustForPun More for the pun]], but the series does have numerous examples.* WallMaster* WellExcuseMePrincess: Link's catchphrase in the cartoon.